Integrated Photonic System for Early Warning of Cyanobacterial Blooms in Aquaponics

Cyanobacterial blooms produce hazardous toxins, deplete oxygen, and secrete compounds that confer undesirable organoleptic properties to water. To prevent bloom appearance, the World Health Organization has established an alert level between 500 and 2000 cells·mL^-1, beyond the capabilities of most optical sensors detecting the cyanobacteria fluorescent pigments. Flow cytometry, cell culturing, and microscopy may reach these detection limits, but they involve both bulky and expensive laboratory equipment or long and tedious protocols. Thus, no current technology allows fast, sensitive, and in situ detection of cyanobacteria. Here, we present a simple, user-friendly, low-cost, and portable photonic system for in situ detection of low cyanobacterial concentrations in water samples. The system integrates high-performance preconcentration elements and optical components for fluorescence measurement of specific cyanobacterial pigments, that is, phycocyanin. Phycocyanin has demonstrated to be more selective to cyanobacteria than other pigments, such as chlorophyll-a, and to present an excellent linear correlation with bacterial concentration from 10² to 10⁴ cell·mL^-1 (R² = 0.99). Additionally, the high performance of the preconcentration system leads to detection limits below 435 cells·mL^-1 after 10 min in aquaponic water samples. Due to its simplicity, compactness, and sensitivity, we envision the current technology as a powerful tool for early warning and detection of low pathogen concentrations in water samples.